Blurrycam Theatre Presents: Fakers gotta fake a next-gen iPhone dock adapter
Remember the fake "iPhone 5 website leak" from last year? To briefly summarize, Apple was supposed to have screwed up last August, with some unlucky soul in the web commerce group posting the "iPhone 5" section early on the Apple Store, accessible only through the internet equivalent of the Konami Code. If you knew where to look -- and our tipster "Peter" did, having sent us a video and everything -- you could see the "iPhone 5" well in advance of its launch. Very well in advance, as it turns out.
Peter's video was moderately clever, but there were some obvious clues that it was fake. With nearly a year of hindsight, it seems laughable now; the iPhone 4S that launched two months later looked nothing like the fake renders.
You'd think after being publicly ridiculed last year, "Peter" wouldn't bother to try faking out tech sites again. Even if he did, you'd guess he'd at least have the common sense not to do pretty much exactly the same thing he did last year. Failing that, maybe he'd be wise enough not to send another fake to the same website that vivisected his last one.
You might think these things, but you'd be wrong.
New iPhone Dock Connector Adapter leaked on the Apple Online Store proclaims some blogger you've never heard of, complete with screenshots and a seemingly convincing YouTube video. Here we find rather convincing "photographs" of a Dock connector adapter, one that's rumored to bring compatibility for old 30-pin iOS device accessories to the new iPhone and its smaller connector. It comes in two varieties: black and silver. The "leaked" page even says which devices it's compatible with, none of which have actually been announced yet.
Once again, cleverly done. Unfortunately, our in-house detectives are much cleverer. Although our faker went to great pains to correct his obvious mistakes from last year, Mike Rose immediately spotted a telltale marker of the video's fakery. We've embedded the video at the bottom of this post and invite our sharp-eyed readers to see if they can spot it, too (watch it in 720p).
We confronted "Peter" (who first claimed to be a US resident originally from Germany) with his hoax and asked him why he went to so much trouble.
Yes everything is fake. I'm in the last year of high school in Switzerland and for our final exams we have to make big documented project. My Topic is Viral Marketing and spreading of Rumors in the Internet.
Sooo please don't show that all is fake, because the first day is very important for my analytics. After a few days you can do whatever you want.
By the way, I'm also the Guy who did the "iPhone 5 Website Leaked" Video last year.
Apologies in advance for your project grade, "Peter," but you spins the wheel, you takes your chances. We're not your lab rats. We're not your teachers, either, but it's a good bet that your school's academic policies don't look kindly on sending hoax emails to media outlets as a means of completing assignments.
Speaking of fake iPhones, though this one isn't from "Peter," check out this next Photoshop abomination anyway. Aside from obvious image editing artifacts, the phone's lock screen has little widgets on it we know from personal experience aren't included in iOS 6. The entire phone seems to be made of aluminum, betraying the faker's complete ignorance of the words "Faraday cage." There are no volume buttons or mute switch. The date on the screen is Thursday, 22 December -- a calendar date from 2011.
Actually, wait. With that date, it makes perfect sense now. This is the real iPhone 5 Apple actually wanted to release last year, but they were forced to settle for the iPhone 4S because of swamp gas reflecting off of Venus and the reverse vampires.
The fake Apple Store/iPhone mini-dock adapter video is below. Sorry if you fail your project, "Peter" -- you'll always have a C-minus in our hearts.
